The final Saturday metropolitan meeting of the season is set to double as a racetrack swansong for enigmatic mare Sneaky Paige as trainer Brad Widdup looks to send her out on a positive note.
A Group 3 placegetter earlier in her career, Sneaky Paige joined Widdup’s team last year following Mark Newnham’s departure to Hong Kong.
While she has managed a city win in 10 starts for her new stable, Widdup says she has also left him scratching his head.
“She has been a very frustrating horse,” Widdup said.
“She would work with (last Saturday’s Rosehill winner) Jedibeel every day of the week and probably towel him up, but just doesn’t do it on the racetrack.”
Sneaky Paige will line up in Saturday’s Kia Ora Prague Handicap (1100m) looking to turn around two disappointing runs from a spell.
After beating just two rivals home first-up in the Gai Waterhouse Classic at Ipswich, she finished at the tail of the field last time out on a heavy track at Randwick.
Widdup has made a few tweaks to her training regime in the hope of sparking her into a final competitive performance before she heads to the broodmare barn for the upcoming breeding season.
“She has been disappointing, and I think she will definitely go to stud this year,” he said.
“But normally when you threaten them, they come out and do something.”
A winner at the track and distance, Sneaky Paige will have just seven rivals at Randwick, including Bjorn Baker’s improving mare Shezanalister and consistent Godolphin three-year-old Fleetwood.
The latter returns to Sydney following a Melbourne sojourn highlighted by a closing last-start third behind Right To Party in the Creswick Stakes (1200m) at Flemington.
